by Name: Patrick
Position: AB (able-bodied seaman). This particular job is a new one for him.
Main duty: General maintenance. He switched to this job because he wanted something new. Work Schedule:Regular. He keeps watch in the wheelhouse for four hours (4:00 to 8:00 am), spends four hours on deck, and then he’s on break for eight hours. He works three months on and three months off.
Current crew:He’s only just met them all.
Previous position:Used to work as a line handler on tugboats.
From: New Jersey. Lived there until his early 20s.
Background: Was a troubled youth who left home at 15. Traveled to Seattle, back to Jersey, back to west coast, and back to the east coast once again. Straightened out his act at 25. Told me he doesn’t drink anymore. He worked at restaurants and became a cook on a ship, which he enjoyed. Food is the morale on a ship, he says. He’s worked in Alaska and the Arctic Circle. Saw polar bears and ice caps. Spent five years in the arctic, and the cold weather hurt his body. He said no to going back out there again.
Seasickness: He doesn’t get seasick anymore. Said it’s something that he had to get over in such rough cold areas. He started in practically the worst place he could’ve.
Career start: Accidental, and it’s that best thing that could have happened to him. Someone approached him and asked if he wanted start working on a ship, so he said yes and loved it. He has worked on ships for 25 years now.
Favorite part of working on ships: Solitude
Least favorite part: Isn’t much he doesn’t like other than occasional gossiping among the crew.
Favorite color: Blue (very fortunate in the line of work!)
Favorite food: Italian
Favorite music: Folk (Bob Dylan especially!)
Current home: St. Petersburg, Florida
Children: Two daughters. One is 25, and the other just turned 18. The latter plans to go to community college in St. Petersburg. She’s looking into literature and art and is very good at digital art! He told me about how he worries for them. He’s afraid that they’ll struggle to find stable careers.
Plans:In his next three months off, he wants to travel (no destination in mind yet) and will see where he ends up.
Future: He has thought about becoming an officer but is 59 years old, and it takes a lot of time and training to get there. But he loves what he does. There’s fresh air.
-Savannah Evans
